Vaya con carne, Martín Luna

This has to have gone down as the Gil Thorp arc with the least amount of actual sports action ever. It also has to be near the top of arcs requiring the greatest suspension of disbelief. On top of all we’ve had to choke down around Marty, Pirate Boy and the Milford Pirate Network (does one station constitute a network?), now we’re supposed to believe that WDIG has at least three studios? Couldn’t at least one of them held Marty’s substitute, re-creating the basketball games Ronald Reagan style while Marty was suspended?

Marty played his traditional role of designated heel, between making light of the Padillas’ life situation, the gratuitous Mexican food references (intended to woo a potential sponsor but interpreted as “Puerto Ricans/Mexicans are all alike and their cultures all the same”) and the mispronunciation/pissy over-pronunciation in response to criticism. But really, Gil doesn’t come off as much less of a schmuck either. True, he couldn’t have anticipated the tack the MPN took on covering Milford hoops – nor Marty’s blue response to them – but he did in effect goad them on to goad Marty on. His ham-handed efforts at negotiation showed how little he thinks of Milford girls’ basketball and required us to connect the dots and assume Marty’s suspension would turn into termination if Marty didn’t accede.

Finally, Gil’s little dig at Marty in the last panel (yet another in which characters depart via a doorway), meant to remind Marty of the Boricua culture of which he is so ignorant, comes off a bit dickish as well. I’ll admit I like the idea of Marty as Scooby-Doo villain, but wouldn’t that mean he’s actually somebody else under a rubber mask? My money’s on Dr. Pearl.

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Terms of endearment

Ok – – first of all – sorry profusely about yesterday. Yes I was busy but I still had a bit of time to knock this out and just plain forgot. I know you dont mind  That Much… so here goes…

The terms of Martys punishment are being laid out both today (Friday) and tomorrow (today). He has to go back to school (yikes) and learn Latin-American  history. Maybe if we’re lucky he will learn to speak Latin too. Everyone that speaks Latin is dead, or will be shortly. So good luck with that.

Its an online class so he can do it in his underwear, or better yet, in the buff. Nobodys looking.

And – how about this — he will broadcast a girls game for the first time. Woo-hoo. I guess all those other games the box narration was the “announcer”.

Plus he has 2 more weeks to not announce basketball like all the other basketball announcers who have been done since oh, April 2nd. Well there’s still the NBA but we arent counting that.

How about how the kids get away with the shenanagans involving distracting a paid announcer from doing his job, and he gets punished but they get off scott free? Comment on that if you want..

Unsold ad time? Why not use that time to give public service messages about the situation in Puerto Rico?

Again thanks for your patience. We now resume regularly scheduled programming.

 

Do The Padilla’s Speak English At Home?

P1: Said no teens ever.

P2: You know, because they don’t have representative government in our home country.

P3: I no-a speak-a da idiomatic-a Ingles-a, Karina, mi amiga. Como se dice ‘blow you off’?

Neutral points: Not gonna google Karina Hartley, token libertarian.

Gil Thorp – Ventriloquist?

OK, Rubin, you got me to google “Internet Ninja.”

It so happens that I am rather familiar with many regional and national dialects of English and also with the many different ways it sounds when spoken as a second language. With all respect due to the entrant, that doesn’t sound like it was written by someone remotely familiar with idiomatic English.

Panel Two takes the cake for inanity. Why talk about ‘all that’ Kelly found when you can talk about whether it took her a long time or a short time and when she managed to find the time… Meanwhile, is that an aged Han Solo in the background of this stylish pub with its exposed brick walls and industrial grade window muntins?

I’ve never seen a ventriloquist act in person. Can they really do that trick? I mean, just how persuasive is the illusion in the presence of the performer as opposed to watching on TV? I gotta hand it to him, I did not foresee witnessing this side of Gil. Day drinking? But of course. Vaudevillianism? Well, I guess he did have that act with Herc the Mauler.

As Vaganova Can Attest, There Is Basically No Risk Of Concussion From Skiing.

Panel 1: “Signs of trouble” is going to become my new euphemism for impending disaster.

[boss with grating accent]: ‘Hey TimP, how’s going der Mega Proposal due Friday to GiantCo?’

TimP: ‘Gee boss, the lead architect is out sick with stage 4 cancer of the everything, his wife just died and his daughter’s wedding in Tahiti is Saturday so he’s got that going on too. Meanwhile, our offshore support team is celebrating a week long major national holiday and are legally forbidden from working*, and our key relationship manager at the account just left us to join our competitor. Also, too, one of their subsidiaries just announced they’re suing us for breach of contract at Tiny Project where the long gone sales guy over promised and we under delivered.  So, you could say there are some Signs of Trouble.’

* The government will occasionally send state security officers to the offices to check that they are closed. No joke!

Panel 2: “What we mostly know about [tobacco and cancer, leaded gasoline, asbestos, etc.] for now is that we need to know more.” (emphasis added)

Panel 3: So, I am a big believer in not letting my fears determine my decisions. Too often in my life, and as I’ve observed in many other’s lives, some element of fear constrained me from reaching further than I could have. Conversely, even when I’ve taken risks and failed, I’ve always made my greatest strides when I’ve managed my fears and charged ahead.

Inspiring or insipid as that might sound, after living in my home for eleven years without it, I bought flood insurance three months before Hurricane Harvey hit and didn’t flood. The point being, I guess I could’ve saved $450 (although I’m happy that money will help to pay out claims to other insureds), but I was a lot more comfortable the night of landfall and the days that followed.

Had I been fearful of flooding? Sure.

Did I mitigate the risks underlying that fear? Yes.

Did I make the right decision?

 

They’ve Got Prairie Style Windows in Omaha, Too?

October 20, 2017

I got the spirit (Hey!)

It’s in my locker (Hey!)

A bottle of vodka (Hey!)

And if we win (Hey!)

We get some gin (Hey!)

And if we lose (What?)

We get no booze (Aww!)

And if we tie… (Yeah?)

We still get high! (Woo!)

— an actual chant by teenchy’s high school football team, long ago and far away

Uncle Gary just doesn’t get it. Win or lose, shared goals and camaraderie are two important lessons that can be learned from playing team sports.  In recognizing that, the teenaged Rick Soto shows himself to be far more mentally mature than his cardboard cutout shyster of an uncle. We haven’t seen team player behavior like that from a Milford athlete since True Standish, The Golden Child, let Jarrod Hale score the winning touchdown in the state championship game. So ease up, Uncle Gary; Rick might just be lining up his future roadies for when he hits it big on the Midwestern fraternal organization open mike night tour. He hasn’t even been concussed yet.  That dubious honor looks like it might fall to…

October 21, 2017

… Mike “Don’t call Me Castle” Fillllllllllllion. Well here’s a surprise – a strip featuring neither Rick Soto nor Uncle Gary but Gil flexing his old school jockocrat muscles (and his right arm with two elbows) by pulling his QB out of this unknown teacher’s class.  I can see Filion’s eyes clouding up already – oh, wait, they’re just exploding.  Making a kid nervous by yanking him out of class then telling him to relax is just the kind of mind game you’d expect from a coach whose one trick on the season is putting a linebacker in at fullback. Wonder if Gil’s gonna tell Mike that Pelwecki’s getting some reps under center next week?

How I wasted my summer, by Jaquan Case.

Well its now all over but the shouting – a few more tosses of the flatbread loaf, and not only does Case talk about the book he isn’t gonna write, but he finally decides that this whole exercise was a waste of time because he announces to Trey (who Did shout) that his future is …. hold it… BASKETBALL. Just like it was when we started this whole pointless plot. Thanks a lot Heather. I have officially rejected both your football knowledge and all your phone calls lining me up to go to college and be a history teacher. Cripes.

Not only that, he wasted Treys time both losing practice time for hoops but making Trey go home and stew at his house.  Only one whose time wasn’t wasted was Gil. He’s over at Milford GC teaching golf as usual.

Boy, its one thing to do a stupid plot for 2 months, its quite another to do the whole thing and then end up in EXACTLY THE SAME PLACE YOU STARTED!!!!

What does Heather do now? Case made her late for fall semester and all he has to say is ‘ Time for basketball.’ !!

Hope they toss all these characters into the pre-season football bonfire.

 

Or, You Know, Varsity Soccer…

Specifically, the friend at Iowa wants to fill you in that classes have already started and they easily handled Wyoming last Sunday during their home opener.

Bonus Point: Nice spiral on that ball, Jaquan! Have you considered becoming a Pro-Bowl Quarterback at the age of 30? Get out there and explore!

Minus Point: Heather looks way out of position to catch that throw. Don’t give up on catching it! Or Anything.